town, Pas-de-Calais département, Nord-Pas-de-Calais région, northern France, at the confluence of the Lawe River and the Aire Canal, southwest of Lille. Founded in the 12th century, Béthune was an independent county until 1248. Thereafter held successively by the counts of Artois and Flanders, the dukes of Burgundy, and the Habsburgs, it was ceded to France by the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678). Badly damaged in World Wars I and II, Béthune is still dominated by its 14th-century belfry. Its traditional coal mining has been supplanted by the automobile industry. Pop. (1999) 27,808; (2005 est.) 27,900.